House hopeful Barbin opens headquarters

BY MIKE FAHER
MFAHER@TRIBDEM.COM

July 15, 2008 08:57 am

— Although it’s only July, the race for the state House 71st District has begun.
A week after Republican Jim Rigby opened a campaign headquarters in Ferndale Borough, Democrat Bryan Barbin planned a similar ceremony for Monday in Stonycreek Township.
And Barbin also will pick up an important endorsement at the noon event: Retiring Democratic state Rep. Ed Wojnaroski, who currently holds the seat, will announce that he’s backing Barbin.
“I think he’s going to be an excellent choice to replace me,” Wojnaroski said.
Barbin, a Johnstown lawyer who fended off five other Democrats to win his party’s nomination in April, said the 701 Belmont St. office will serve Johnstown’s East Hills communities.
“I feel that providing a base of operations for our corps of supporters and volunteers will give us an opportunity to spread my campaign messages to our communities in the early stages of this race,” Barbin said in a statement.
The public is invited to Monday’s ceremony, set for noon outside the Belmont Street office. Food and drink will be available, organizers said.
Barbin also plans to eventually open another campaign office in the 71st district, which includes Johnstown and 13 other municipalities.
It is a Democrat-dominated district. But Wojnaroski, who is serving his sixth term in the House, said registration numbers do not equate to an automatic win for his party.
“People today are not voting straight tickets,” he said.
Wojnaroski stayed neutral in the primary race.
But he now says Barbin – whose quarter-century in the legal field includes management of a Harrisburg law firm and work in the state Attorney General’s Office – is the right man for elected office.
“He’s dedicated, and he’s committed to working hard,” Wojnaroski said.
Rigby, a Ferndale councilman, has opened a campaign office in that borough at 317 Ferndale Ave.